Thursday, 4 November 2010

The F Word Exhibition (also known as the Forgiveness Project) tours prisons, churches and other venues in both the US and the UK, to highlight stories of courage from people who have been able to forgive others after they've been wronged. The narratives are varied, containing the extraordinary testimonies of people who are learning to forgive after living through the Holocaust at Auschwitz or people offering forgiveness to those that killed their relatives in terrorist atrocities. But the project contains stories of ordinary people too; those that learn to forgive everyday ordinary wrongdoing.

I'm keen to promote this project because being unable to forgive others can destroy individuals and communities, and yet, without examples of others who've managed against the odds, it's much harder to imagine what forgiveness might look like. In Lambeth, there is perhaps a greater imperative to learn to forgive. Back in 2008, I quoted an excerpt from the South London Press in which Ashley Kemete's mother said that she had forgiven her son's killer(s) in a shooting that occurred in White Hart Street, Kennington. That's one extraordinary statement from a local woman, especially since it doesn't look as though Ashley's killer(s) have been arrested or sentenced, but I hope it isn't forgotten

The exhibition is being held at St Anselm's Church (Kennington Cross, SE11 5DU) from 29th November to 6th December. The comment below indicates that it will be open from 10am - 8pm at night.